NE 76 Street Stakeholders Meeting, June 16, 2010

A stakeholders meeting to discuss potential future improvements for the NE 76 Street corridor was held at Redmond's Maintenance Operations Center, which is located on NE 76 Street, on Wednesday June 16, 2010. This meeting marks the last piece of the Greater Southeast Redmond Area Transportation Study.

The intention of the NE 76 Street meeting was to gather comments from area stakeholders on a proposed design for the corridor. A summary of the meeting is available for review.

Public Meeting, September 16, 2009

The second public meeting for the Greater Southeast Redmond Area Transportation Study was held at Redmond City Hall on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. This was one of a series of meetings and workshops hosted by the City to address congestion and freight mobility in Southeast Redmond.
In addition to encouraging continued public participation in the Greater Southeast Redmond area study process, City staff and study consultants used visual displays to generate public comments on potential transportation improvements for the Greater Southeast Redmond area.

The presentation in the Council Chambers was followed by a question and answer session, and the "voting" process on project priorities.

Public Meeting on May 20, 2009

The City of Redmond held a public open house for the Greater Southeast Redmond Area Transportation Study on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at Redmond City Hall. A total of 27 participants, not including City staff and study consultants, attended. In addition, 21 participants completed a survey questionnaire to solicit feedback on ideas of potential improvements.

The purpose of the open house was to introduce the public to the study, share information on the progress since it began, determine if the study is headed in the right direction, and receive feedback on suggestions heard to date to identify additional needs.

The meeting focused on four key themes:

multi-modal connectivity

SR 520 area

freight movement

improving traffic flow

Through the public open house and the questionnaire responses, key issues were either confirmed or identified. Click on the link for a full summary of the May 20 Greater Southeast Redmond Area Transportation Study public open house

Stakeholder Planning Charrette on February 2, 2009

Following the distribution of the freight mobility survey in January 2009 to Redmond businesses, City staff joined with study consultants to host a stakeholder planning charrette for area business owners and other invested parties at Redmond City Hall on February 2, 2009. The purposes of the charrette were engaging stakeholders at the initial stage of the study; identifying issues key to stakeholders; and soliciting potential solutions to address key issues. Stakeholders included staff from agencies, representatives from major business, transportation, and environmental organizations, residential groups, and various City staff. Click on the link provided to see the presentation that opened the day at the planning charrette.

Transportation network connectivity including a general roadway grid system and connected non-motorized links;

A multimodal transportation network including both balancing opportunities for all modes of travel and integrating different modes smoothly to serve a holistic function;

Congestion and traffic dispersion adjacent to or where City streets intersect with SR 520;

Accommodation of freight traffic where they are allowed regarding regulations, roadway, and signal design;

Transit service regarding pedestrian access to transit stations, frequency of service, direct service to major employers, effective use of park-and-ride lots, and connections to the future light rail station;

Access management on Avondale Road such as providing u-turn opportunities;

Environment and culture including stormwater run-off, aesthetics, open space, and a historic feature; and

Partnership.

Once issues were identified, stakeholders were divided into four groups based on their affiliations and potential interests. These four groups were (1) general traffic, (2) freight, (3) NE 76 Street and 188 Avenue NE area, and (4) transit/non-motorized. These four groups generated about 76 pieces of ideas. Commonality appeared among ideas from different groups even though ideas from these four groups had very different perspectives and emphasis. Four common themes emerged across all groups:

Focus on East End of SR 520. City streets at the east end of SR 520 and its extension are Redmond Way/NE 76 Street and Union Hill Road/Avondale Road. Groups of general traffic and NE 76 Street and 188 Avenue NE area proposed to have direct connection/fly over ramps from City streets to SR 520. In addition, the general traffic group proposed to have high vehicle occupancy (HOV) lanes on Avondale Road and Union Hill Road to SR 520. At the end of SR 520, i.e. the intersection of Union Hill Road and Avondale Road, the freight group proposed to examine turning movements of trucks while considering pedestrian crossing safety. Regarding SR 520, the transit/non-motorized group had three ideas: (1) provide more parking for transit users for the SR 520 corridor; (2) address potential additional traffic demand by the future light rail station adjacent to the Redmond Way/SR 520 area; and (3) improve the non-motorized barriers on Avondale Road and Redmond Way around SR 520.

Provide More Connections. The idea of adding east/west streets either to add more capacity or complete the street grid system was proposed by all groups except the transit/non-motorized group. The transit/non-motorized group proposed to link missing pieces on non-motorized corridors that connect people with major destinations and activity centers such as Redmond Town Center and the future light rail station or as simple as have safe pedestrian crossings to and from transit stations.

Emphasize Multimodal Transportation. All groups proposed ideas that involved more than one mode of travel. Some ideas are specifically for integrating different modes of travel. The general traffic group proposed to have both general traffic lanes and HOV lanes on Avondale Road and Union Hill Road. The freight group proposed examining (1) the conflict between peak traffic periods and truck operating time; and (2) certain truck maneuvers and pedestrian crossing safety. While focusing on roadway network for motorized travel modes, the NE 76 Street and 188 Avenue NE area group proposed adding pedestrian connections on certain City streets and missing links in the regional trail system. The transit/non-motorized group emphasized the need for having non-motorized facilities to and at transit facilities. Examples include pedestrian and bike connections to transit stops and pedestrian crossings to transit stops.

Improve Traffic Flow Through Advanced Technology. All groups proposed to improve traffic flow through better signal operations with the aid of advanced technology such as interconnecting signals on arterials, using ITS to move traffic efficiently, and transit signal priority.

Charrette facilitator categorized all the ideas and sorted the top ten ideas from each group. The total number of ideas came down to 32. Then each charrette participant voted the top five ideas. The ideas that received the highest votes included:

Propose a direct connection from NE 76 Street to SR 520 and flyover for the SR520/Union Hill Road intersection;

Provide an additional east/west corridor;

Make roundabout truck friendly;

188 Avenue NE is critical for freight movement. Do not restrict the use of this street;

Complete the street grid in Southeast Redmond area; and

Add u-turn opportunities on Avondale Road.

The next step for the study team is to take the charrette outcomes forward including:

Verify project principles and objectives with City Council;

Take charrette outcomes to further technical analysis;

Take any other ideas and directions from City Council to further technical analysis.